Blood Doesn't Complete This Family
by Rasi10
Summary: The original family of 6 (including Peggy, Jarvis and Ana) we've known has now grown to be a family of 9. Not all of them were of blood but it didn't make them any less than a family. Join the Starks as they discover their family, lose it in the process before finding it again. Collaboration with anxious. soul
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Marvel does.**

 **Warnings: Swearing, OOC -Especially Howard as he will be nice in this and maybe irregular updates when we might get busy.**

 **This is a collaboration with anxious. soul, who is also posting this in their account while I cross post it on Wattpad under the same title. Hope you all will like this!**

 **This chapter was written by** **anxious. soul** **and edited by me.**

On the outskirts of the busy city of New York, stood Stark Mansion. The gorgeous building was occupied by three unique individuals; Howard Stark -genius, millionaire and pioneer in different types of technology, Maria Stark -intellectually beautiful and talented in the musical arts, and Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark -genius, brimming with promise for the future and a talented young boy. Of course, there was also Edwin Jarvis, the ever-loving and trustworthy butler that helped raise the now four-year-old Tony and his lovely wife Ana, who was often over at the mansion playing with Tony and treating him like he was her own.

Getting everything you could ever dream of and wanting nothing should be the best thing in the world. Tony should be living a carefree and happy life, yet the boy often found himself wandering the vast halls and gardens of the too large house when everyone was busy. He found himself wishing for a friend. For someone to play with him, to keep him company when Maria reluctantly left for charity gigs, when Howard smiled sadly as he went to board meeting after board meeting, when Jarvis had gone home to his wife or when he was too busy to play with the child and when Aunt Peggy was busy with the super secret spy stuff that Tony wasn't supposed to know about ('supposed to' being the keyword, but he knew the significance of what she did so he knew he couldn't breathe a word of it to anyone...not that he had anyone to tell. Though, all he knew was that she was an agent of some kind, nothing more and nothing less).

He had always wished for someone other than the adults to take care of him, someone who would be there for him when the adults weren't around, someone he could be childish with when the others were busy, someone who he could be a child with, play with and share everything with. Someone who was a child like him.

He spent most of his days building with the little scrap piles that his dad deemed safe enough for him to mess with. In fact, two days ago he was proudly showing off a working circuit board. When he wasn't building he was learning with his numerous private tutors/teachers because, at age four, the boy was successfully learning and _understanding_ the things that most pre-teens didn't get.

Still, about 1460 days alive with no friends and only five trustworthy adults that he could talk to did get incredibly lonely. Especially for such an intelligent boy, who ended up trying to build a small dog robot to befriend.

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

"How was your day, Anthony?" Maria asked as she passed the salad over to Howard,

"It was alright." He murmured digging into his dinner, he missed the looks of concern his parents shared,

"Are _you_ alright?" Howard asked eyeing his son,

"Uh huh." He mumbled around a mouthful of food.

"Tony-"

"I'm fine. Honest." He quickly interrupted and thankfully his parents changed the conversation. The two adults spoke to each other about work whilst Tony sat there lost in thought as he ate.

"I was very impressed with your circuit board and other little creations you left in my office, Tony. They were very well made. You're going to surpass me in what? Two years?" Howard smiled jokingly at the end and was pleased with the adorable little giggle that Tony couldn't hold in. The child's cheeks reddened slightly and Maria cooed.

"Thank you, daddy." He whispered in embarrassment and pride.

"Your Aunt Peggy was in touch, she says she misses you dearly and will try to visit as soon as possible." Howard murmured before taking a sip of his wine, he watched as Tony's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Really? Do you know when? I've missed Auntie Peggy, she's been gone _forever_!"

"Sorry Tony, she doesn't know. But I reckon she'll be trying her damned-" The man hissed slightly as Maria slapped his shoulder for his language before continuing, "-hardest to get over here and see her little darling godson." Tony grinned, his cinnamon eyes glittering happily at his father's words.

"Jarvis is bringing Ana over tomorrow, so I expect you will be making a mess of the kitchen as per usual. Though I suppose that's the price we must pay for delicious goods." The rest of the meal was eaten in peaceful silence, but Tony was smiling and that was all that mattered.

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

Once their evening meal was finished, the family stood up, Maria grabbed Tony's hand and led him away. "How about we show daddy what you've learned on the piano, Bambino?"

"Okay, mama." Howard followed the two with a gentle smile that would surprise the public and press, who knew the coldhearted businessman loved and cared for his family? Maria and Tony sat down on the bench, the little boy sitting on her lap as his fingers touched the keys. Maria sang with a smile as she stared down at her intelligent son.

 _"Try to remember the kind of September…"_ Her voice was gentle and soothing like a lullaby, Howard watched with a smile of pride and joy as they finished off, Tony placing his finger down on a piano key for the final time as Maria's singing faded. The older man clapped.

"Brilliant! You should both form a duo." He grinned and reached down to hug the pair, kissing Tony's forehead and then Maria's lips much to the boy's disgust.

"I believe your father wants us to perform an encore, Bambino. Shall we?" Tony's angelic smile was answer enough and soon they were playing again and again and again until the little boy's eyes began to flutter closed.

Howard hoisted the boy into his arms and the pair tucked him into bed.

"Howard, I think we need to go through with it." Maria said.

"I agree, Maria." He murmured placing his hand on her hand which was on his shoulder, the two stared at their little lost and lonely boy, "I agree."

 **A/N: And that was the first chapter of this new venture. The updates will be irregular as the both of us also have other commitments but I promise it won't be as delayed as my other books.**

 **I hope you all liked it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated greatly.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **Published on 22 January 2019**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter was written by me and edited by anxious. soul.**

 **Warnings: Mentions of murder towards the end.**

It was the typical Thanksgiving night in the heart of New York. One could see crowds rushing to and fro as adults and children alike hurried to the comfort of their home.

In the middle of the busy crowd, if someone looked closely, they would've spotted something unusual. They would've seen the unusually pale, blue coloured girl sitting in front of one of the shops shivering in the cold.

It was when she wanted to move out of that place that she was suddenly knocked down by someone, who was clearly in a hurry to get home.

"Sorry!" exclaimed a strong feminine voice and the girl watched as the woman extended a hand towards her. She took it.

"It's no problem ma'am. Have a nice evening!" she replied as she proceeded to walk away.

"Wait!" the lady shouted again over the noise and the girl turned around, curious about what the woman wanted. "How old are you?" she asked when the child came over.

"Seven I guess?" the girl answered with a shrug of confusion.

By this time, a man had come over and joined the lady.

"Peggy! Tony is going to be waiting!" he stated and stopped short as he spotted the child. "And who is this?" he asked as he crouched down to her level, allowing him to look in her eye.

"I'm Nebula" she whispered shyly.

"Hello Nebula! Where are your parents?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't know them. I was just left here by someone." Nebula admitted. The man seemed to think about something before looking at Nebula in a new light.

"How would you like to come home with us and stay with my family?" he asked and Nebula's eyes went wide at the offer, tearing up at what he was asking. "Really?" she asked, uncertain.

"Yes, really. My wife would love to meet you as will my son." he answered with a genuine smile. She started jumping up and down with joy, excited at the prospect of having a new family.

"My name is Howard and I'm going to take you to your new home. Welcome to the family Nebula." he murmured with a kind smile as he lead Peggy and Nebula home.

 **LINE BREAK**

Meanwhile, it was chaos at the Stark Mansion. Jarvis and Ana were busy in the kitchen preparing for dinner while the four year old Tony was sitting by the piano with Maria, learning to play a new song to show his dad and Aunt Peggy, who were coming home a little late due to some delay in work.

It was the same every year. Thanksgiving was the only time other than Christmas that the whole family (including Peggy's) gathered together for a family dinner.

There was a lot of excited chatter in the household, all the familiar hustle and bustle in the kitchen, the setting up of tables. All this happened while Tony practiced the piano in the background.

Beautiful music echoed gently throughout the house, though there were the occasional slip-ups as the child pressed too harshly on a key or the wrong one. It was broken by the knock on the front door at which Tony immediately jumped up from his place at the piano and ran up to the door excitedly to meet his "Auntie and Uncle Peggy", the name had always amused the adults as they knew that he rarely saw "Uncle Peggy".

He was jumping in barely contained excitement when the opened the door and was about to throw himself on his father when he stopped short, mouth open in shock at the sight before of him. Peeping out from behind Howard was a blue skinned girl, who waved and smiled shyly at him.

"Mom! Come over here and see this!" he shouted in excitement.

"What happened Bambino?" Maria asked as she came to the door and took in the scene in front of her in silence. "Howard... Peggy... What is all this?" Maria asked, looking at the girl in front of her.

"Maria, Tony, meet the new addition in our family." Howard announced, beaming at his wife and son. "Tony, meet Nebula. Nebula, this is Tony, your new little brother." Howard introduced as he went to stand beside Maria.

"You took it seriously, didn't you?" Maria asked as she saw the new light in Tony's eyes at the prospect of having a sister, a new playmate.

"I have a sister!" He shouted in excitement before dragging Nebula to meet Jarvis and Ana as he wanted to introduce them.

"Yeah, we all could notice that he really needed someone near his own age to play with. All of us can agree that he was lonely" Howard said as they entered the kitchen to witness a hyperactive Tony telling something to Jarvis while Nebula sat there, watching the interaction.

"Hello my darling! Someone seems very happy today" Peggy said with a kind smile.

"Auntie Peggy!" Tony exclaimed rushing forward to hug the woman.

"Having fun with your new sister?" She asked looking at the joy and excitement that radiated off of Tony.

"She doesn't talk much" Tony said with a pout.

"It will take her some time Bambino. She is, after all, new to all of us and is probably shy." Maria cooed before turning to the child. "Hello Nebula. I am Maria. You can either call me Aunt Maria or Mom, whatever is comfortable with you." Maria said kindly and Nebula just nodded, unsure on what to do.

"No need to be shy on us now, Nebula. What is your favourite colour?" Howard asked.

"Blue and Purple and Black." Nebula whispered.

"Do you like robots?" Tony asked.

"What are they?" Nebula responded with curiosity.

"You don't know what are those? That is the first thing I am going to show you after we finish eating!" exclaimed Tony in mock offence and as promised he dragged her away as soon as they finished eating, much to all the adult's amusement.

"They are going to be a troublesome duo aren't they?" Ana said with a sigh.

"It is worth it Ana, that smile from Master Tony makes it all worth it." Jarvis replied clutching his wife's hand with a smile.

 **LINE BREAK**

After all the excitement, Tony was exhausted and promptly tucked into bed by Maria and Howard. Nebula was given a bed near Tony's and also got tucked in with a goodnight kiss before the parents left the room, leaving Nebula to her thoughts. And most of them were not at all good.

She remembered the time when she was little about her parents and her own siblings playing with her, going out together, having petty quarrels and all. Then, it all changed with that one attack, the attack that destroyed her life. She could still remember that day clearly. She had been waiting for her parents and siblings to come out and play with her and at that time, her home world was attacked. She could hear the screams of the people getting killed, her father's shouts for her to just run and never look back and she just did that.

She didn't know who was behind this or why, but all she knew was that a huge massacre had happened and she didn't know how many people had survived. Had her parents survived? Her friends? She just ran to the outskirts of the planet until was found by some passing by space ship and they had taken her in for a year, probably planning on selling her off to someone, but they were not in luck as they crash landed somewhere near Earth and she fell through the sky and somehow survived as she landed on some beach in New York. Ever since, she had been roaming around, homeless and clueless about the place and what to do. That was until Howard, or as he requested her to call him, dad came by.

But now, she was clueless on how to behave with this family as she felt like she was betraying her own family and... she felt a little uncomfortable and didn't know what is going to happen.

 **A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter! I know that it is probably quite rushed but... I hope it is ok for you all! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated greatly guys, seriously. And any suggestions will be accepted.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing out**

 **Published on 27 January 2019**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The next chapter of the book written by anxious. soul and edited by myself.**

Days turned into weeks as the Stark's got to know their newest family member and vice versa for Nebula, who was slowly getting used to her new family. She was getting more comfortable as they smiled and comforted her on her bad days. So far, she hadn't gone outside of the Stark Mansion or property, not that she had a problem with it thinking back to the area she had roamed before Howard found her. It wasn't a pleasant place. The smells, the sights, the sounds and the snarls she got from all the strange people who had rushed past her on their way to work. However, here, in the large, light and lovely house, she found herself calling it home. She found herself fitting in and growing to love her family, especially the little boy far too smart for his age and far too lonely for a child.

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

Dawn appeared fresh and rosy-fingered. The sunlight slipped through the curtains of Tony's bedroom. Nebula had been moved to the room beside Tony's once said room had been decorated and styled to suit her tastes.

Sunlight hit his face, the child blinked sleepily before his cinnamon eyes cleared and he sat up. Rubbing his eyes and shielding a yawn, he snucked a glance out of the gap in the curtain as he slipped some socks on. It was a lovely day and he smiled. Sneaking down the stairs of the quiet manor, he found Jarvis in the kitchen.

"Good morning, young sir." He said with a smile, handing the four-year-old a small glass of milk, who smiled appreciatively.

"Morning, Jarvis. What time is it?"

"It is almost nine. Your father had to go to a meeting early this morning and your mother has decided to have a little lie in. I suggest you don't wake her, Anthony. She has been working a lot at the minute and needs to recuperate."

"What does that mean?" He asked, eyes furrowed in confusion and the ageing butler smiled before crouching down to Tony's height.

"She needs to rest, young sir."

"Oh, okay. Thanks!" He exclaimed giving the Englishman a childish grin that had the adults restraining a coo every so often due to the sheer adorableness of said grin. "Where's Nebula? It's a really sunny day and I wanted to take her to my favourite spot outside."

"I believe young miss is still in her room. She should be awake, I know she tends to wake up early and stays in bed reading for a bit. Like you, she does enjoy learning and is incredibly fascinated with literature." Jarvis answered and grabbed the empty glass to wash it up, "Shall I prepare a picnic basket for you both?" Tony beamed again.

"Yes, please! That would be great!" he exclaimed and rushed off to get Nebula out of bed.

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

The blue-skinned girl was indeed awake. Her curtains were open letting the sunshine filter in as she read peacefully in her bed.

"Nebby!" The door slammed open and whilst the girl had previously jumped at the sound, she had grown used to her brother's loud entrances. She sighed and bookmarked her page before placing the book on her bedside table, seconds before Tony leapt onto her bed and consequently, her.

"Good morning, Tony. Must you call me that?"  
"It's a nickname, so yes." He answered as though it was a proper explanation. Nebula just shook her head at his antics.

"Is there a reason you're in here?" She asked raising an eyebrow…or at least she seemed to as she didn't actually have any hair.

"Yes." He nodded before pulling her out of bed and to the wardrobe, "We're having a picnic in the gardens! Mummy is sleeping, she needs her rest." He said with an odd tone of seriousness, "And daddy is at work, so it's just us -and Jarvis!"

"Okay. It is a nice day." She murmured before shooing the little boy out and grabbing some clothes. She ended up going with a cute and loose dress.

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

About ten minutes later the pair appeared in the kitchen dressed to go out to the garden. Tony, being the cheeky gentleman that he is, had Jarvis sighing as he grabbed the basket that was a bit too big for him and began to lead Nebula out to 'his' spot. She ended up grabbing hold of the other side of the basket when Tony almost dropped it and together they carried it and set up at the top of a small hill, within eyesight of the manor. (Don't worry, none of the public or press could see either of them, in fact, they were rarely a problem at the manor as the house wasn't publicly known and was on the outskirts of the city, plus there were tall fences and walls).

They laid down on the blanket above the dry grass.

"See that cloud? It looks like a robot!" Tony exclaimed and Nebula furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What?"

"Right there."

"Tony, what are you doing?"

"Cloud watching! You have to use your imag…in…ation." He said the word slowly as it got tangled on his tongue, "See! That one right there going over the sun looks like a rubber ducky!"

The pair spent hours outside, watching the clouds forming shapes as they ate.

"Nebby."

"Yes, Tony?"

"Do you…" He sat up and his fingers had found themselves tangled in the hem of his shirt, "Are you happy here with us?" Nebula sat up too and faced her little brother.

"I will never forget my birth family." She said after a while, her head tilted back towards the darkening sky as she spoke before she looked back at the boy, "But, I am happy here. I am very happy with being apart of your family and lives." Tony beamed at her, "Thank you for accepting me, little Phoenix." Tony's beaming smile faded as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Why are you calling me 'Phoenix'?" He asked,

"Well it means 'dark red' and you really like that colour. Plus the Phoenix symbolises rebirth and in a way second chances, you are _my_ second chance at having a family." She mumbled a little bit embarrassed but Tony knocked her over seconds later in a hug.

"I love it! Thank you, Nebby!"

 **—** **LINE BREAK—**

The sky was dark by the time Howard returned home. Only an hour or so remained before his children would be sent to bed so he called them into his office. Kneeling down to their height he handed Nebula a silver cuff. It was about 0.5 inches wide and seemed to fit Nebula's blue wrist perfectly as she put it on and looked at it in awe. Five coloured gems lay inside the cuff in a purposefully wonky line, they were purple, blue, black, red and gold. The first three being Nebula's favourite colours and the final two being Tony's.

"It's beautiful." She whispered, her eyes were slightly moist when she looked into Howard's eyes, "But it is not my birthday or a day of celebration." She said in a way of asking what it was for, yet avoiding asking a question.

"Tony came up with it actually. Now, I mean no offence Nebula, but you are not a human. Because of your appearance, going out in public would cause an uproar and publicity that no one wants. So, Tony and I together came up with this little thing. It will make you look like a human if we go out into public. That way you can come with us and enjoy yourself. It won't come off of you unless you want it to. You have to simply close your eyes and imagine a human version of yourself that is, your skin colour, hair colour and length and eye colour."

"But how is that possible?"

"By no means is this bracelet man-made. It's a trinket of magic I had recovered. It's perfectly safe though." He added smiling gently before he and Tony watched Nebula close her eyes and transform into a pale girl with long brownish red hair and hazel eyes.

"Pretty!" Tony giggled reaching out to touch her long locks as Howard smiled and handed her a mirror. She tentatively touched her face as she looked into the mirror.

"Do you like it?" He murmured.

"I do!"

"I don't want this to cause you any self-confidence problems. You are a beautiful girl just the way you are, we only need this bracelet to avoid unwanted interactions. You understand that, don't you, Nebula?" Howard said firmly, placing his hands on her shoulders as the façade faded away returning her to her normal self.

"I do, dad. I appreciate you both giving me this opportunity to go out more and learn of the world behind the house." She gave them both a smile and Tony threw himself at this sister, hugging her tightly before Howard himself joined the hug.

 **A/N: And there is the third chapter of the book. For those who are reading my other books, a short notice. I had a very busy schedule with the farewell preparations and all the other shit that I had no time to update any of my books so please put up with me for a while as it might take a while to type out the chapters.**

 **Anyways... hope you all liked this chapter! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **Published on 18 February 2018**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter was written by me and edited by anxious soul.**

 **Warnings: Just a lot of fluff and a touch of grief.**

 _The surroundings were blazing, the darkness was accompanied by cries and begging of people with the fires and blasts all around._

 _"Run... don't look back... run" a voice rasped out and that is what she did. She ran, leaving behind all the screams and cries, the blasts and fires._

 _"-bby!" a childish voice shouted suddenly. Wait what? Where did a child come from?_

 _"Nebby! Wake up!" the voice said frantically and she stopped_ _running. Why was someone asking her to wake up when she was running?_

 _"Nebby, please wake up now!" the voice said, nearly in tears of what sounded like helplessness and everything started to fade away._

Nebula woke up with a gasp, trying to control her quick breathing and ground herself to reality. Beside her, five year old Tony stood, feeling helpless at what to do to comfort his sister.

Minutes before, he had woken up for a glass of water when he heard her screams and rushed to her room to try and wake Nebula, who was shaking and sweating badly, up.

Now, he was sitting to the side, unsure on how to help his sister after whatever happened. Instinctively, he put his arms around her and felt her tense at this gesture. He was about to pull away but then he felt her hug him back and cry on his shoulder.

"Nightmares?" Tony asked innocently and Nebula just shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, once she'd calmed herself down.

"Wanted to get some water but I think some of Jarvis' Mysterious Magic will do you more good." he said confidently and dragged Nebula to the kitchen after waking up Jarvis.

And the Mysterious Magic (Which was just hot chocolate with ice cream and crystallized caramel, topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips) as Tony liked to call it, worked its magic.

The next morning was started with the sight of Tony and Nebula sleeping on the couch with relaxed smiles on their faces.

\- Line Break -

It was a peaceful Sunday morning in the city, well... as peaceful as you can get in New York, yet there was a lot of commotion at the Stark household. Everyone was running around, trying to sort out whether they had everything they needed for the day. The original plan was to go to a bookstore, then go out for a nice picnic at a scheduled corner at some park before heading back home.

You see, the sudden visit to the book store was for two reasons. One because Nebula was a crazy fan of books. The other reason was because the two children were going to start school in the next week. They were going to start school seen as Tony was five and Nebula was a child and so she required some education as it wouldn't be fair to her - she had, after all, been the one to request going to school with her little brother.

Back on track. After all the preparations were finished, the family finally set out to a bookstore, miraculously escaping the paparazzi that was usually after the family, for which everyone was relieved as they didn't want anyone to know about Nebula, ever. Even at school, she is enrolled under the alias "Amelia Jackson".

The moment they set foot in the bookstore, Nebula shot off, running through all the shelves with excitement and wonder, looking through them to choose some books to take home, all the while dragging a flailing Tony, who just let her drag him while pleading his parents to save him from this hyperactive sister. The two of them just stood at the side, sharing amused looks at their children's antics and went off to purchase the required school books.

In the end, Nebula had purchased ten thick, bound books and a few small ones to read to Tony while the boy himself had some books related to mythology (Norse, Egyptian, Greek, Indian, etc) and a few books on mechanics, all of which were towards adults... not children, before they left the shop.

One thing that Tony might deny if ever asked was his fascination about mythology. He had always been drawn to all those fantasies and while he might try to deny it, he couldn't help but imagine them to be true and even role play at times because he was still a child and is allowed to be imaginative!

Then they headed towards the park, Howard laid out the blanket, where he and Maria sat with smiles as the adults watched their two children playing around. Nebula and Tony climbed the little wooden castle together when someone approached them.

"May I join you?" a young boy asked, causing the two to raise their head up to see who it was.

"And.. you are?" Nebula queried.

"Oh! I'm Peter Quill and I have recently moved here." Peter said excitedly, still waiting for their reply.

"Sure! My name's Tony and this is Nebula." Tony replied as he beckoned Peter to join them in building the castle.

"How old are you guys? I am five." Peter asked curiously. "Well... Nebby is eight and I'm five like you!" Tony answered with a grin.

After a while, they got bored and ran about playing a makeshift game of tag, which swiftly changed to hide and seek before they rushed over to Maria in excitement to introduce their new friend.

"Mom! Meet our new friend!" Tony shouted as he approached his parents.

"So, who is it?" Howard asked.

"Dad, this is Peter. We built that sand castle and then we had a lot of fun!" Nebula exclaimed.

"Is that so?" Maria asked. Just then a woman came in calling out for Peter, who rushed up to her and embraced her before he dragged her over to the Stark family.

"And then, we played a game of tag and it was fun!" Quill finished excitedly.

"I hope he hasn't been of any trouble to you all? I'm Meredith Quill." she introduced herself.

"No problem. It was actually nice to see them interacting with someone else other than each other, you know?." Howard said.

"Would you like to join us? We have more than we could eat." Maria offered and Meredith accepted.

The children gobble down some of the food Maria had placed on the blanket. Thankfully, they allowed their food to go down a bit before running away to the now empty swings, where they stayed chatting about whatever children chat about. Howard shared a smile with Maria and Meredith as the three listened to their children laughing with each other. It was a truly magical sound.

Eventually the adults had a talk about all the adult things and even Meredith offered to take care of the children if ever the needed and the other two were very thankful for it as at times, it became too boring with just Jarvis and Ana around.

The fun came to an end several hours later when the clouds darkened and the sky rumbled. Maria called the three over as Howard packed up. They'd just got in the car to go home when the rain came pouring down.

\- Line Break -

It was late in the evening when Howard popped into Tony's bedroom, where he and Nebula were taking it in turns to read a book out loud.

"You should both get ready for sleep. There's a big surprise of sorts coming here tomorrow." He closed the door to the sound of Tony speculating to Nebula that they were getting a puppy. Howard chuckled and shook his head before sighing and running a hand down his face.

\- Line Break -

 _Sometime before in Howard's office_

"Those two seem to be getting along well right?" Maria asked, going through something Howard showed her.

"Yes, they do. Have the Hills call recently? I mean, I thought they were supposed to leave little Marie over here before they left for the mission the day after you know?" Howard replied.

"Yeah, which reminds me, they did call and informed that Marie will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. Their mission seems to be a little serious this time as they are going undercover somewhere. Maria will be dropped off tomorrow." Maria said.

"One second, I will tell the kids something and come back" Howard murmured with a wink and went upstairs before coming back down. "Done. Now, my lady, shall we head to bed or..." he stated suggestively, eyebrows raised. Maria smirked and nodded her head

The other thing ended up being reading to the kids, tucking them in before heading to bed.

 **A/N: So... yeah, a new chapter after all this while. And what do you think about this new development of the two meeting Quill? Comment below. And I am really excited about Endgame (Even though I might end up watching it online instead of theatres)… I am rambling now aren't I?**

 **Anyways, Hope you all like this chapter! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated as always.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Rasi10 signing off**

 **Published on 7 April 2019**


	5. Chapter 5

****A/N: Heya People! Its been quite a while and I apologise for that. I hope that this will satisfy you guys for my absence.****

 ** **Note: I will be referring to Maria Hill as Marie or Maria Hill (Maybe Maggie in later chapters) when I am bringing in Maria Hill and Maria Stark into the scene.****

The months passed by quickly since the time the Hills left their 2 year old daughter Maria, who had been staying over with them for the past 3 months due to her parent's extended mission. Tony and Nebula were immediately attracted to her, always going behind her, doting on her and playing with her. Even Quill had fallen for her charms when he met her.

The four of them were rarely seen apart. If they weren't in school, they would always go out to play together while the adults watched over them until it was time for dinner.

The came Halloween. After a lot of secret discussions between Tony, Nebula and Quill, they decided to dress up as aliens, wishing that Nebula can roam around without disguises for at least that one day. While initially sceptical, Howard and Maria agreed for the dress up, causing the lot to jump up in joy before getting their costumes ready.

"Are you ready little Phoenix?" Nebula asked as she walked out of her room without the bracelet. "Gimme a minute Nebby, just some last minute changes." He shouted as he wore his trench coat and picked up his screw driver.

"Hello there! Did anyone call for the Doctor?" Tony said as he walked out. "Doctor Who?" Nebula asked just for the sake of it.  
"Oh good! You guys are ready then. Can you also take little Marie with you? We all will be busy over here and it can be quite entertaining for her as well." Maria asked as she came in, holding onto Maria Hill, who was all dolled up for the night.

"Sure mom, no problem. When are the Quills arriving?" Nebula asked. "They should be here at any moment. Do you have your baskets with you?" Howard asked.

"Yes dad, we are all ready to go out for trick or treating." Tony said as he jumped up and down. "They are soo... going to get a sugar rush in the following day and make it hell, won't they" Jarvis whispered to Ana. "They sure will but... let them enjoy the childish innocence while it lasts, you know. It will be tough for them when they are all grown up." She whispered back.

"True that. And there is the third monkey" Jarvis said as the door bell rung repeatedly. When the door was opened, all anyone could see was a pair of antennae fly past them with a exasperated Meredith coming through the door.

"That boy has been a ball of energy all day. Hopefully it will go down soon." Meredith said with a sigh as she greeted Jarvis. "But we all know it wouldn't last. The kids are going to have sugar rush for days." Maria said knowingly.

"I know, but it is worth it I guess." Meredith said as she saw the kids interacting with each other. Nebula was in her true form with the blue and purple skin, Tony was going all out Doctor Who with the white shirt, pants and a bow tie, topping it with the classic trench coat and sonic screwdriver.

Quill was wearing a antennae headband while colouring his face in a bright green colour and a matching gloves and a purple jumpsuit. Maria was dressed up as a simple fairy with tiny wings and a wand.

"Thank you for agreeing to take them for trick or treating. As much as we would love to do it, it will not be possible with our work." Howard said sincerely to Meredith, who was wearing a witch costume, with a pointy hat and fake nails.

"Oh! It's not a problem at all. It will be fun to see them running up and down, cracking all the jokes and have fun." she said with a soft smile.

And so they went, marching along the streets, shouting out non sync poems while Maria was holding onto Meredith, hopping from house to house. By the time they were back home, it was late in the night, arms almost asleep from the weight of the chocolate and the kids were exhausted.

"Alright then, time to bed! You can eat your candies tomorrow!" Maria said as she took the sleeping Marie from Meredith while sending the rest of them up to bed, for they were having a sleepover that day.

As suspected, the candy bars were exhausted in a week and they spent another week trying to make the children come down from their sugar highs. And they were difficult children when they have sugar rushes. A little child and 2 five year olds with their older sister, forget peace.

And then comes Thanksgiving, where the Quills, Starks and Carters meet up together for a family dinner as in the past few months, the Quills have grown close to the Stark family and almost have become family in all but blood.

And then came the Christmas celebrations. News spread that the Hills will be coming back around the time of Christmas, causing some downtrodden looks from the other kids but they were assured that they would be seeing Maria as often as they can once she has started school.

And Christmas was another exciting event in the household. The tree was bought, the decorations were brought down, searching for presents, all in all, a very busy affair. The kids were at a loss as to what to gift each other and were often found asking the adults about what to do discreetly, much to the amusement of said adults.

And finally, it is the week before Christmas. The Hills had arrived to pick up Maria, only to stay back at the Stark household till the end of New Year, thanks to the two puppy eyes pulled by Tony and Nebula.

They were then taken to Christmas shopping to buy gifts, the kids running around the shop to select the perfect gifts for each other while the adults picked up their own gifts along with a few more decorations and whatever they needed for the Christmas dinner.

Howard and Maria were also having a busy week, filled with Galas and all the other publicity stuff, which left them with little time to spend with their children, but they understood the circumstances and started decorating everything with the help of the Quills and the Hills.

On Christmas eve, they sat around the couch, discussing cheesy stories of their childhood and their personal adventures and all that stuff over hot chocolate until it was bedtime. The next morning, all the parents were woken up by some very overexcited children, who wanted to open their gifts as early as possible.

Amused by their excitement, the adults dressed up and assembled by the tree before handing out the numerous gifts underneath it, after which they switched on the TV for some classical movies.

The evenings were the most fun though. While Jarvis, Ana, Meredith were in the kitchen, Howard and the Hills were discussing about confidential things, Maria gathered all the children around the piano and played it along with Tony, singing along to the tune while the others tried to join in with off setting tune, sending the others into laughter.

"Maybe we should make it a tradition? The night before sharing stories, the morning filled with cheesy movies and the night will be the special secret song, each of us setting our own tune to it while mom plays the piano?" Nebula asked, greeted with enthusiastic agreements. All in all, it was a year well spent.

 ** **A/N: Hey there! Sorry for the delay again. I wanted to post it for Halloween but... since the chapter was too short and mostly narrative, I decided to club it with Christmas. (Ironically, I will be publishing it just at the end of the day, literally at 11:59 my time at the end of the day) So... yeah, hope you all liked this chapter! All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated. A few more chapters of supped fluff and some angst before everything is on fire!****

 ** **Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year guys, wow, the decade is about to end, it has sped by too quickly man. Which reminds me... it has nearly been a year since I posted Old Memories and New Beginnings (Which is like... this book's somewhat predecessor, go and check it out if you like)****

 ** **Also, I have been wondering... should I do something like a cook off between the Avengers - Like Nat challenges the other Avengers to cook a meal of Russian while she will be the judge or something like that? Any ideas?****

 ** **Thank you all for reading!****

 ** **Rasi10 signing off****

 ** **Published on 25 December 2019****


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